For the past week, the election fervor has begun in the rural areas of Rupandehi and the cities and markets. Candidates have started reaching voters' homes and yards with their agendas.
What you should know
The third week of Magh has started to be foggy and misty. After a week of sunshine, people have started to take out the warm clothes they had stored and put them on. The cold weather is not uniform. Sometimes the fog breaks and the sun appears. Then, in an instant, a cold wave sets in.
However, even in the cold weather, the common people are not confined to their homes. As candidates of various parties have started coming door to door with new and old promises, they are also getting warm.
The election fervor has begun in the rural areas of Rupandehi and the cities and markets for a week. Candidates have started reaching voters' homes and courtyards with their agendas. Voters have also started debating the election at tea and coffee gatherings. Parties have set up liaison offices in wards and regions to create gathering places for workers. While some workers have been working on door-to-door campaigns with candidates, the remaining workers are busy with strategy and review at the liaison offices.
Due to the election code of conduct, public meetings and rallies have not been organized. Some are gathering in tol-wards to convey their promises. Some candidates are working to maintain balance within the party and listen to the expectations of voters. ‘I am meeting and explaining to the party workers who have complaints against the party and explaining to them about the new policy of the Congress,’ said Sushil Gurung, the Congress candidate in Rupandehi-3. ‘I am meeting voters in the markets and villages.’ Rather than showing too many dreams, I am telling them about the changed Congress and the party’s plan to change the country.’
Due to the lack of formation, there is a one-on-one competition between the parties in the district this time. The candidates of the new party are presenting a tough challenge to the traditional parties. That is why no party has run its election campaign with the same confidence as before. The party’s leading workers are reaching out to the voters by preparing secret meetings and strategies. In Rupandehi-3, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) candidate Dr. Lekhjung Thapa has prepared a ‘profile’ of the constituency. The details included in three books mention what kind of problems and how many residents there are in each ward.
‘Political awareness has increased among voters,’ said Thapa, ‘not just winning the election, but also taking responsibility after winning.’ He said that after reaching the doorsteps of voters in the first phase and collecting their expectations, he is now engaged in door-to-door campaigning. He said that he is getting a positive response from voters as he is a native of Bhairahawa. ‘I am a person who dreams big,’ he said, ‘This time I have a dream of getting involved in politics and reaching the policy-making level.’
The candidates have made development, education and health their main agenda. They say that they will complete the unfinished plans and provide effective services by modernizing education and health. Voters of Rupandehi-1 are telling the candidate about the problems of being victims of microfinance. The candidate has also made the issue of providing justice to microfinance victims an agenda. Candidates from Congress, UML, RPP, RSVP and NCP have already started door-to-door campaigning there.
‘There is a big problem of irrigation in Rupandehi-1,’ said Prajwal Bohara, the RPP candidate from that constituency. ‘Unlike other constituencies, the residents here are suffering a lot from microfinance.’ Prajwal is the youngest son of Deepak Bohara, who won Rupandehi-3 in 2079. Bohara said that there is a lot of demand for irrigation, fertilizers, education and health in the rural areas. ‘After meeting expectations, I am now busy with door-to-door campaigning,’ he said. ‘My father Deepak Bohara also started his parliamentary election campaign from Rupandehi-1. I have also chosen this constituency with the aim of preserving his father’s legacy.’
Along with door-to-door campaigning, ward and regional meetings have started in Rupandehi-4. The party is gathering cadres at various places to introduce the candidates and their agenda. The candidates, who were busy meeting leading cadres until a week ago, have started campaigning by making personal manifestos covering the main issues of the area. UML candidate from Rupandehi-4, Pramod Yadav, has made public his manifesto covering the problems of his area in 25 points. ‘Many people are not aware that the march will be held in Nepal,’ he said. ‘I want to introduce the march within the country.’ He said that the main problems in the area are fertilizers, seeds, road infrastructure, education and health.’
Nepali Communist Party (NCP) candidate for Rupandehi-3, Faiz Ahmed Khan, is a resident of Bhairahawa. He said that he understands most of the problems as he is a long-time resident of the area. He said that after meeting cadres and voters in the rural areas of the area, he focused on the district headquarters, Bhairahawa. ‘The condition of government schools in my area is critical,’ he said, ‘these schools need to be upgraded.’ He said that children from Siddhartha Nagar have to be sent to Butwal for education. He said that this has put a financial burden on the parents. He said that there is a demand to increase the bed capacity at Bhim Hospital in Bhairahawa due to the high pressure of the general public.’
Janata Samajwadi Nepal candidate Sarvendranath Shukla from Rupandehi-4 is also active in the door-to-door campaign. Shukla, who won in 2079, is in the race to win the election this time too. He is going door-to-door in the rural areas of Marchwar, Mayadevi, Lumbini and Siyari in his area. Shukla, a veteran politician in the district, is meeting leading cadres and the general public. ‘I am campaigning by making road infrastructure, agricultural reforms, fertilizers, seeds, education and health the main issues,’ Shukla said, ‘This is also the demand of the voters in the village.’
